18 May 2010

Central Council of Muslims in Germany Pulls Out Of Government Sponsored Integration Effort

.... The German Islamic Conference between the federal government and Muslim groups is intended to set policies about Islam in Germany for the next three years, with an emphasis on improving religious and social integration of the country’s sizeable Muslim population.

Köhler had hailed the first conference, held in 2006, .... a great success. Köhler stressed the council had come to its difficult decision only after weeks of consideration. But the council was upset that half the 2,500 Mosque-centred communities were not going to be represented at the conference and that the ministry had “gone over the heads of Muslims,” in deciding the themes and constitution of the conference, he said.

The council felt it was “a conference decreed by the federal government” that would be neither binding nor authoritative and therefore amounted to a “debating club.” The key issues for Muslims were discrimination and Islamophobia. [The Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report] Read more